1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to an improvement in or relating to anchors, and particularly to an anchor retrieving device adapted to be interposed between an anchor and one end of a main anchoring line to retrieve the anchor when it becomes snagged at the bottom of a body of water, for example, seized by roots or ledges of rocks or submerged timbers or like.
2. Related Art Statement
It might often arise a case where an anchor becomes snagged by roots, rocks or like to make it impossible to raise the anchor to the boat. In order to release the anchor and to bring the same in the condition for easy raising, I have previously proposed an anchor arrangement. The anchor arrangement according to my previous proposal, comprises a flexible rope having a free end, retaining device for detachably retaining the free end of the rope and being attached to the rope and normally held at a position separated from the free end of the rope by a certain distance, an anchor attached to the rope and having a shank and at least one grasping means (fluke in one embodiment) extending backwardly from one end of the shank for grasping a rock at the bottom of a body of water. The shank of the anchor is attached to the rope so that the one end formed with the fluke is positioned remoter from the free end of the rope. The arrangement further comprises means for opening the retaining device so that the free end of the rope is released therefrom in readiness for the anchor raising operation, upon impingement or striking by a weight.
The anchor arrangement of my prior proposal is disclosed in my co-pending U.S. patent application Ser. No. 06/865,115 which was filed while claiming a Convention Priority based on Japanese Patent Appln. No. 115232/1985 (Japanese Patent Laid-Open Publication No. 275085/1986), and a corresponding European patent application was also filed and given with EPC No. 86303937.6. This is also disclosed in my Japanese Patent Appln. No. 173924/1986. The specification of the aforementioned U.S. Patent Application will be incorporated herein as a reference.
In my previous arrangement, the means for opening the retaining device is a hook which is opened as it is struck by the weight. One end of the hook is pivoted by a pin to the main body of the retaining device. The other movable end is engaged and retained by a lock pawl to the main body of the retaining device under the closed condition, and disengaged from the lock pawl under the opened condition.
However, this arrangement has a disadvantage that sands, soils or muds on the bottom of a body of water tends to adhere to the portions around and vicinal to the pivot pin as the retaining device contacts with sands or other particles, leading to the result that the device is gotten clogged to reduce reliability in releasing action. There is also a problem that all of the loading applied to the anchor is transmitted to the pivot pin of the hook, so that smooth action of the hook has been fatally lost, should the pin be bent or otherwise deformed by such an extremely high loading. A further disadvantage of this arrangement is its inherent poor operationability. This poor operationability or difficulty in setting is caused by the necessity that the free end of a section of the rope, which is connected to the end of the shank opposite to the crown end, must be trapped by the hook and then the hook is latched by the lock pawl.